The sun beat down on the Balamb streets, reflecting off the white brick and making Nida earnestly wish that he had brought a pair of sunglasses. Quistis had thrown up a hand to shield her eyes, and Squall stood just ahead, squinting and at the same time trying very hard to make it seem as if he was not squinting. It was almost comical.

"We've gone from the Police to the Housing Regulator, from Housing to Neighborhood Watch, from Watch to Mrs. Dincht, and from Mrs. Dincht to the Hotel, and now the Hotel Manager wants us to talk to the Police," Quistis noted with a touch of exasperation, ticking off their stops on her fingers. Is Cid sure that Seifer is here?"

"Is Cid ever sure of anything?" Nida asked.

Squall crossed his arms, probably mentally cursing everything from Seifer to Cid to the bright sun overhead.

"I feel," Quistis was remarking, "as if it's something terribly obvious that we're missing because we've been looking for something terribly covert. As if it's right under our noses."

Nida sighed, looking up into the sky to avoid the glare of the street. "What like that mass gathering of people at the train station?" he asked tiredly.

"I mean something like--" Quistis stopped in her verbal tracks. "...come to think of it, Seifer would attract a crowd...."

Nida groaned. "Natural luck," he said. "He would be in the last possible place we would ever look."

Squall scowled, and stepped onto the blinding street. Quistis and Nida fell into step just behind him, crossing the distance between the Hotel and the Station quickly. Slipping through the muttering crowd with a grace only a SeeD or a pickpocket could master, they soon came close enough to see--

--a very familiar figure, casually seated on a waiting bench against the wall, taking pains to polish a combat knife a bit too carefully, and from time to time glancing up to stare one of the more fidgety members of the crowd into submission.

Nida crossed his arms, elbowing Squall discreetly. "This is going to be really messy, isn't it?" he asked. If he knew anything about the Commander, it was that he wouldn't want this to be a public confrontation.

Squall nodded a curt affirmative, eyes darkening. Taking in the crowd at a glance, he put on his best Official Business face and stepped forward, Nida and Quistis only a pace behind.

The crowd parted them, perhaps realizing that they were about to do something to take care of the situation. Seifer glanced up, face hardening into a mask of stony apathy mixed with mild disdain. Squall took a breath, mentally running through every Oratory and Public Speaking course he had been required to take at Garden.

"By the authority of the independent organization of SeeD, within the jurisdiction of international law as per the statues set forth in the conferences of forty seventy-three and forty seventy-five, we are placing you under arrest to be returned immediately to Garden. You will come with us immediately and without any show of resistance."

A small, slightly-amused smile had begun to manifest on Seifer's face as soon as Squall had begun his speech, and by now it had developed into a full smirk. Looking Squall directly in the eye, he responded "No." And looked away.

A train whistle echoed from inside the track tunnel, alerting all the people in the station for legitimate reason that their ride was almost there. Squall waited until he could hear himself think before he retorted.

"We're authorized to take whatever measures we deem appropriate, up to and including the use of force."

Seifer glanced up, standing and shoving the combat knife back into its sheath at his hip. Turning to face them, he drew himself up to his full height and shrugged amiably. "Maybe later," he said nonchalantly as the train rolled into the station.

There was a murmur in the crowd as Seifer turned to board the train, and Nida glanced to Squall for instruction. Squall was glaring at Seifer with a great deal of masked aggravation, and before anyone could stop him or think of doing anything, he had taken a pair of steps forward to place himself in a position in which he could easily draw his gunblade and block Seifer's path.

Seifer froze, but it seemed like he was the only one in the area who stopped moving. Most of the bystanders scattered, some screamed, and a good deal dove behind cover to watch as if this were some sort of gunfighter movie and they were about to see a shootout at the village saloon.

Seifer turned his head slowly, looking down the blade at his throat to the SeeD who held it. "I said," he stressed, "maybe later."

"You don't have a choice, Seifer," Squall growled quietly. Implied was the request, "Let's not make this any more sensational than it already is." They would already be the talk of the town for at least a week as it was....

Seifer's expression darkened for a moment, but it quickly went back to its original form of unimpressed cool. After all, there were people watching--and Seifer Almasy never failed to perform for an audience.

Nida, with a quick glance at Quistis, drew his katana and slipped around Seifer's side to stand between him and the train. "What exactly do you think you're doing," he asked flatly. Seifer turned a bored look on him.

"Boarding a train," he responded. "If you'll excuse me?"

"No." Quistis joined in now, completing the three-person arc that separated Seifer from his destination. "You're coming back to Garden if ooph--"

With a sudden burst of motion, Seifer ducked and drew the Hyperion, punching Quistis in the stomach with the hilt. A quick spincut brought both Nida and Squall to the defensive, and two sets of sparks showered from two separate parries. Seifer lunged at Squall, spinning and aiming for a midriff hit. Squall responded with an answering spin, carrying himself past Seifer and--

--inadvertently opening a path for his rival--

Seifer dashed through the opening, leaping onto the entrance of the train and using the ticket to grant himself access to the inner room of the car. Nida reacted more quickly than Squall, dashing after Seifer, evading the ticket man, and slipping in through the door before it closed. Squall followed at a run, jumping into the train just as the outer door swung shut.

Quistis finally got to her feet and dispelled the stars from her eyes, just in time to see the train hoot once and begin to roll away. Trying to preserve some public dignity, she quietly straightened herself up and looked after the departing train with an air of dispassionate regard. Turning, she began to walk slowly out of the Station.

Her dignified exit was interrupted by a short, portly man who nervously tugged at her elbow as she passed. "Excuse me," he wheedled. "Those two didn't pay--that's six thousand gil--"

Quistis forced a calm smile onto her face. "Charge it to SeeD's running account," she said, slipping out into the blinding sunlight and trying to decide what she was going to tell Cid.